Department of Health and Social Care

NHS and Social Services: Protective Clothing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the first forecasts of how much personal protective equipment would be needed to respond to the covid-19 outbreak were made in the (a) NHS and (b) social care sector.

Jo Churchill: On 10 April, the Government set out a plan for a national effort on personal protective equipment (PPE). This plan incorporates guidance on who needs PPE and when they need it, routes to ensure those who need it can get it at the right time and sets out actions on what the Government and its partners across health and social care are doing to secure enough PPE to last through the crisis.We are working around the clock to give the National Health Service and social care sectors the PPE equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. We recognise that having the right PPE has been a huge concern for frontline health and care workers.

Birmingham City Council: Coronavirus

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to tackle the shortages in personal protective equipment raised in the letter to him from the Leader of Birmingham City Council, dated 16 April 2020.

Jo Churchill: As of 28 May, the Make Cell identified 502 opportunities from companies with the potential to manufacture safe-to-use personal protective equipment to the technical standards, scale and pace required. Of these, 374 are being fully assessed, 77 have been ‘qualified’ and a further 27 now have an approved technical design following prototype development. To date, the Department has raised 13 purchase orders (POs) with nine different companies – covering gowns, aprons, facemasks, visors, and hand sanitizer. These POs are for nearly half-a-billion items of PPE, 12 million square metres of gown fabric and 105 tonnes of raw materials for facemasks. Companies with raised POs have already started the manufacturing process, with some already delivering to National Health Service frontline services. More new manufacturers of PPE are expected to commit to producing PPE in the coming weeks, with 25 opportunist companies in final commercial discussions.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the advice the Government received on the effect of wearing face-masks on the spread of covid-19.

Jo Churchill: The Government has published advice on the effect of wearing face masks related to the spread of COVID-19. The ‘SAGE 27 minutes: Coronavirus (COVID-19) response, 21 April 2020’ can be found online at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sage-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-21-april-2020The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies advised that using cloth masks as a precautionary measure could be at least partially effective in enclosed spaces like public transport where social distancing is not possible consistently, creating a risk of close social contact with multiple parties the person does not usually meet.